Lionel Messi has made it clear that he wants to leave Barcelona and join Manchester City.
The Argentine superstar has grown tired of the Spanish club’s failures in the Champions League and is eager to work with Pep Guardiola again.
However, signing Messi will not be easy, as the 33-year-old still has a year left on his current contract at Barcelona with a release clause of 700 million euros.
The hope of City is that Messi’s field can negotiate an agreement that will lead him to leave the Camp Nou in a free transfer.
If this happened, a move to City would be firmly on the cards and the English giants have already agreed on financial terms with the Argentine.
As reported by Duncan Castles for the Daily Record, the owners of City and Messi have agreed on the terms of a five-year contract worth a staggering 700 million euros (623 million pounds), the same amount as their buyout clause. .
The offer would see Messi spend three years in the Premier League with City and the remaining two years with New York City FC, which is also owned by City Football Group (CFG).
It was also reported that Messi could be offered an equity stake in CFG as part of his compensation package.
It’s a contract offer that would cement the six-time Ballon d’Or winner’s status as the highest-paid footballer on the planet for the rest of his career.
Messi is desperate to get back to work with Guardiola, and a source close to the player says: “Messi believes that Guardiola got the best football out of him and he wants to repeat that.”
However, the deal depends solely on whether Barça will accept that their precious asset leaves the club for free this summer.
According to a Barcelona source, President Josep Maria Bartomeu “does not want to be remembered as the president who transferred Messi.”
But the Spanish club, which is heavily in debt, will soon have to wonder; Does it make any sense to keep such a high paid player when they are so desperate to leave?
News Now – Sports News
.
